CN210015808U - Key structure - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model discloses a button structure, it contains bottom plate, key cap, elevating system, moving part, interlock support and magnetism and inhales the piece. The lifting mechanism is connected with the bottom plate and the keycap. The movable piece is arranged in a sliding mode relative to the bottom plate. The linkage bracket is provided with a pivot part, a magnetic part and a driving part. The magnetic part is arranged on the bottom plate and can generate magnetic attraction force with the magnetic part. When the movable piece is located at the first position, the pivot part is rotatably arranged on the boss of the movable piece, and the magnetic attraction drives the keycap to move away from the base plate through the linkage support. When the movable piece moves from the first position to the second position, the boss is far away from the lower position of the pivoting part, so that the pivoting part is separated from the boss and moves downwards, and the keycap moves towards the bottom plate. The utility model discloses a key structure, the key cap still can sink so that accomodate even not receiving and pressing external force. Moreover, the restoring force of the keycap is not generated by the elastic structure, so that the problem that the elastic member may be permanently deformed to influence the elasticity in the prior art is solved.

Description

Key structure

Technical Field

The utility model relates to a formula button structure is inhaled to magnetism especially indicates a formula button structure is inhaled to magnetism that the key cap can sink and accomodate.

Background

The conventional notebook computer keyboard does not have a sinking and accommodating design, so that the keycaps are kept at the same height (the non-pressed position) no matter the computer screen is opened or closed, and the conventional keyboard has a fixed height. For the notebook computer, when the user does not need to use the notebook computer, the user can close the screen, and the screen may collide with the keys to be damaged because the traditional keys cannot sink and be stored. In addition, the keys that cannot be stored in a sink manner occupy more space, which limits the notebook computer to be thin. In addition, if the key structure is designed to provide the key cap with restoring force through an elastic member (e.g., a silicone circular protrusion), when the key cap is forced to sink for storage, the elastic member may be in a compressed state for a long time, which may cause permanent deformation to affect the elasticity, and is not favorable for the service life of the elastic member.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

In view of the problems in the prior art, an object of the present invention is to provide a key structure using magnetic attraction as a restoring force of a key cap, and by removing a ledge supporting a holder generating the magnetic attraction, so that the key cap can sink down to be accommodated.

In order to achieve the above object, the utility model provides a button structure, which comprises a bottom plate, a keycap, a lifting mechanism, a moving part, a linkage support and a magnetic attraction part. The keycap is arranged on the bottom plate; the lifting mechanism is connected between the base plate and the keycap, and the keycap can move along the vertical direction relative to the base plate through the lifting mechanism; the movable piece is movably arranged along the horizontal direction relative to the bottom plate and comprises a movable plate body and a boss, and the boss protrudes upwards from the surface of the movable plate body; the linkage support is provided with a pivot part, a magnetic part and a driving part, the magnetic part and the driving part are positioned at two sides of the pivot part, the linkage support is rotatably arranged on the boss through the pivot part, and the driving part is abutted against one of the lifting mechanism and the keycap; the magnetic part is arranged on the bottom plate, and a magnetic attraction force is generated between the magnetic part and the magnetic part; when the movable piece is located at the first position, the magnetic attraction piece is located below the magnetic attraction part, and the magnetic attraction force drives the keycap to be far away from the bottom plate through the linkage support; when the movable piece moves horizontally from the first position to the second position, the boss is far away from the lower position of the pivot part, and the pivot part is separated from the boss and moves downwards, so that the keycap moves towards the bottom plate.

In one embodiment, the boss has a top surface and a guiding inclined surface, the pivot portion has an arc surface, and when the movable member moves horizontally from the second position to the first position, the guiding inclined surface guides the arc surface to slide back to the top surface upward from the surface of the movable plate.

In one embodiment, the base plate includes a limiting structure, the pivot portion is engaged with the limiting structure when the movable member is located at the first position, and the pivot portion is disengaged from the limiting structure when the movable member is located at the second position.

In one embodiment, when the movable member is located at the first position and the keycap is not pressed, the magnetic part is in line contact with the magnetic member; or the magnetic part and the magnetic part are arranged separately.

In one embodiment, the bottom surface of the linking bracket is provided with a yielding groove, and when the movable member is located at the second position, the boss enters the yielding groove to reduce the height of the overlapped pivot part and the boss.

In an embodiment, the button structure further includes a switch disposed on the movable member, wherein when the movable member is located at the first position, the switch is located below the linking bracket, and when the movable member is located at the second position, the switch is away from a downward projection area of the linking bracket along the vertical direction.

In one embodiment, the linkage support has a triggering portion, and when the movable member is located at the first position and the keycap is pressed, the triggering portion triggers the switch.

In one embodiment, the lifting mechanism includes a first support and a second support pivotally connected to each other, the keycap can move vertically relative to the base plate through the first support and the second support, the first support is connected to the keycap through a first upper end portion and is connected to the base plate through a first lower end portion, the second support is connected to the keycap through a second upper end portion and is connected to the base plate through a second lower end portion.

In an embodiment, the first bracket includes a sliding groove extending along an extending direction from the first lower end to the first upper end, the movable member includes a sliding hook, and the sliding hook slides in the sliding groove and applies a force to the sliding groove to rotate the first bracket toward the base plate during the moving of the movable member from the first position to the second position, so as to reduce the height of the first upper end.

In an embodiment, the sliding groove has a groove bottom surface, the groove bottom surface extends in a direction deviating from the extending direction toward the bottom plate, and the sliding hook slides on the groove bottom surface toward the first lower end in the process that the movable member moves from the first position to the second position.

In an embodiment, the first bracket and the second bracket are pivoted with respect to a rotational axis, the driving portion abuts against the second upper end portion adjacent to the second bracket, and projections of the sliding groove and the driving portion in the vertical direction are located on the same side of the rotational axis; or the driving part is abutted against the keycap, and the projections of the sliding chute and the driving part in the vertical direction are positioned on two opposite sides of the rotating shaft.

In an embodiment, when the projection of the sliding groove and the driving portion in the vertical direction are located on opposite sides of the rotation axis, the sliding groove has a groove bottom surface, the groove bottom surface extends in a direction deviating from the extending direction toward the keycap, and the sliding hook slides on the groove bottom surface toward the first upper end portion in a process that the movable member moves from the first position to the second position.

In one embodiment, the first support is an outer ring, the second support is an inner ring, the inner ring is pivotally connected to the inner side of the outer ring, and the linkage support is located on the inner side of the inner ring.

In one embodiment, the linkage bracket comprises a plastic part and a paramagnetic plate combined to the plastic part, the plastic part forms the driving part and the pivot part, and the paramagnetic plate forms the magnetic part.

In one embodiment, the magnetic attraction increases to rotate the linking bracket toward the base plate in the process that the movable member moves from the first position to the second position.

In an embodiment, the button structure further includes a switch disposed on the movable member, wherein the movable member is disposed under the bottom plate.

Compare in prior art, according to the utility model discloses a button structure, the key cap still can sink so that accomodate even not receiving and pressing external force. Moreover, the restoring force (i.e. magnetic attraction) of the keycap is not generated by the elastic structure, so that the problem that the elastic member may be permanently deformed to influence the elasticity in the prior art is solved.

The present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a key structure according to an embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a partially exploded view of the key structure of fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an exploded view of another portion of the key structure of fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an exploded view of the key structure of fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a schematic view of fig. 4 from another viewing angle.

Fig. 6 is an exploded view of the interlocking bracket of fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a schematic view of fig. 6 from another viewing angle.

Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the key structure of fig. 1 taken along line X-X.

Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the key structure of fig. 1 taken along line Y-Y, with the cut plane passing through the limiting structure of the bottom plate.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the key structure of FIG. 8 when the key cap is pressed.

Fig. 11 is a sectional view of the key structure of fig. 8 in a storage state.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the key structure of FIG. 8 according to another embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a side view of the key structure of FIG. 1 in a stowed state, where the keycap is shown in phantom outline.

FIG. 14 is an exploded view of a portion of a key structure according to another embodiment.

Fig. 15 is an exploded view of the key structure of fig. 14.

Fig. 16 is a schematic view of fig. 15 from another viewing angle.

Fig. 17 is a cross-sectional view of the key structure of fig. 14.

Fig. 18 is a sectional view of the key structure of fig. 17 in a stored state.

FIG. 19 is a side view of the key structure of FIG. 14 in a stowed state, where the keycap is outlined in phantom.

Detailed Description

The following description of the embodiments refers to the accompanying drawings for illustrating the specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. In the present invention, directional terms such as "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "side", etc. refer to directions of the attached drawings. Accordingly, the directional terms used are used for describing and understanding the present invention, and are not used for limiting the present invention.

In the following embodiments, the same portions are denoted by the same reference numerals in different drawings.

Please refer to fig. 1 to 10. The key structure 1 according to an embodiment includes a bottom plate 10, a key cap 12, a lifting mechanism 14, a movable member 16, a linking bracket 18, a magnetic member 20, and a switch circuit board 22. The keycaps 12 are disposed over the base plate 10. The lift mechanism 14 is coupled between the base plate 10 and the keycap 12 such that the keycap 12 can be moved by the lift mechanism 14 in a substantially vertical direction D1 (shown with double arrows in fig. 1, 8-10) relative to the base plate 10. The movable member 16 is movably disposed relative to the base plate 10 in a substantially horizontal direction D2 (shown with double arrows in fig. 1, 8-10). The movable member 16 includes a movable plate 162 and a boss 164, and the boss 164 protrudes upward from a surface 162a of the movable plate 162 (or toward the key cap 12). The moveable member 16 is operable to move horizontally relative to the base plate 10 to change the horizontal position of the boss 164 relative to the base plate 10; in fig. 1, 2, 8 to 10, the movable member 16 is located at the first position, and the key structure 1 is in a state that can be pressed by a user. The linking bracket 18 has a pivot part 182, a magnetic part 184 and a driving part 186, and the magnetic part 184 and the driving part 186 are located at two sides of the pivot part 182. When the movable member 16 is located at the first position, the linking bracket 18 is rotatably disposed on the boss 164 by the pivot portion 182, and the driving portion 186 abuts against the lifting mechanism 14. The magnetic element 20 is disposed on the bottom plate 10, the magnetic element 20 is located below the magnetic portion 184, and a magnetic attraction force F (shown by a double arrow in fig. 8 and 10) is generated between the magnetic portion 184 and the magnetic element 20. The magnetic attraction force F causes the magnetic attraction part 184 of the linking bracket 18 to descend, so that the linking bracket 18 rotates around the pivot part 182, and the driving part 186 is driven to ascend to make the keycap 12 ascend to be away from the bottom plate 10. The switch circuit board 22 has a switch 222 (shown in phantom circles in fig. 4; shown in fig. 8 and 10 as a single rectangular block), and the switch circuit board 22 is disposed on the movable member 16 and is movable with the movable member 16. The keycap 12 can be pressed to move downwards, so that the switch 222 is triggered; when the keycap 12 is no longer depressed, the magnetic attraction force F provides a keycap 12 return force to move the keycap 12 upward to its home position.

In the present embodiment, the lifting mechanism 14 is implemented as a scissors support frame, which includes a first bracket 142 and a second bracket 144, wherein the first bracket 142 and the second bracket 144 are pivoted with respect to the rotation axis 14a (shown in fig. 2 and 3 by dotted lines); the rotational axis 14a is perpendicular to the vertical direction D1 and the horizontal direction D2. The first support 142 is connected to the first key cap connecting portion 122 of the key cap 12 (implemented by two sliding groove structures, which protrude downward from the bottom surface 120a of the cap body 120 of the key cap 12) at a first upper end 1422, and the first support 142 is connected to the first base plate connecting portion 102 of the base plate 10 (implemented by two L-shaped hook structures) at a first lower end 1424. The second support 144 is connected with a second upper end 1442 to the second key cap link 124 of the key cap 12 (implemented with two water drop hole structures, which protrude downward from the bottom surface 120a of the cap body 120) and the second support 144 is connected with a second lower end 1444 to the second base link 104 of the base 10 (implemented with two L-shaped hook structures). Thereby, the keycap 12 can move vertically relative to the base plate 10 through the first and second supports 142 and 144.

The interlocking bracket 18 includes a plastic part 18a and a paramagnetic plate 18b, and the paramagnetic plate 18b is inserted into the plastic part 18 a. In practice, the paramagnetic plate 18b can also be coupled to the plastic part 18a by insert-injection, which can reduce the structural openings and increase the structural strength of the plastic part 18 a. The plastic piece 18a forms the driving portion 186 and the pivoting portion 182, and the paramagnetic plate piece 18b forms the magnetic portion 184. In addition, the plastic part 18a also forms a trigger portion 188, the trigger portion 188 faces the base plate 10; as shown in fig. 10, the magnetic attraction portion 184 and the trigger portion 188 are located on both sides of the pivot portion 182, and the switch 222 is located below (the trigger portion 188 of) the linking bracket 18, so that when the key cap 12 is pressed, the trigger portion 188 triggers the switch 222. The movable plate 162 of the movable member 16 is disposed below the bottom plate 10, the boss 164 corresponding to the bottom plate 10 has an opening structure to expose the boss 164, so that the pivot portion 182 can abut against the boss 164, and the boss 164 can support the linking bracket 18 through the pivot portion 182, so that the linking bracket 18 can rotate relative to the boss 164 with the pivot portion 182 as a fulcrum. In this embodiment, the driving portion 186 of the linking bracket 18 abuts against the portion of the second bracket 144 adjacent to the second upper end 1442. In addition, the two ends 1822 of the pivot portion 182 snap into the limiting structure 106 of the base plate 10 (which is implemented by two L-shaped hooks that respectively snap into the two ends 1822), as shown in fig. 9. In other words, as shown in fig. 8 to 10, the boss 164 and the limiting structure 106 together restrict the pivot portion 182, so as to increase the stability of the linking bracket 18 rotating relative to the boss 164; in the perspective of fig. 8 to 10, the boss 164 limits the downward movement of the pivot portion 182, and the limiting structure 106 limits the upward and rightward movement of (the end portion 182 of) the pivot portion 182.

The switch circuit board 22 is disposed on the movable plate 162, and the switch circuit board 22 is located below the bottom plate 10, and the bottom plate 10 has an opening structure corresponding to the switch 222 to expose the switch 222; thereby, (the trigger portion 188 of) the linking bracket 18 located above the base plate 10 can rotate relative to the boss 164 to trigger the switch 222. In practice, the switch circuit board 22 can be implemented by, but not limited to, a conventional three-layer structure thin film circuit board (the upper and lower layers carry the switch circuit, and the middle layer insulates the circuits of the upper and lower layers); to simplify the drawing, the switch circuit board 22 is still shown as a single solid structure. For example, the switch circuit board 22 may also be implemented as a printed circuit board or a flexible board, on which a touch switch (as the mechanical switch 222) or a set of light source and light sensor (as the optical switch 222) is soldered. The magnetic element 20 is a magnet, which is fixed to the base plate 10 by a restraining structure 108 (implemented by two opposite structures extending and bending upwards) of the base plate 10.

In addition, in practical applications, for example, but not limited to, the base plate 10 can be implemented by a metal stamping, wherein the first base plate connecting portion 102, the second base plate connecting portion 104 and the limiting structure 106 are formed by bending an L-shaped plate portion upwards, and the restraining structure 108 is formed by bending an L-shaped plate portion upwards. The key cap 12, the first support 142 and the second support 144 can be formed by injection molding of plastic. The moveable member 16 may be implemented as a metal stamping wherein the boss 164 is formed as an upwardly trapezoidal projection. In addition, in practical operation, the linking bracket 18 may also be implemented as a paramagnetic metal stamping. Alternatively, when the magnetic part 184 is implemented by a magnet, the magnetic member 20 can be implemented by a paramagnetic material.

Please refer to fig. 7, 8 and 11. When the movable member 16 moves substantially horizontally (or slides to the right) from the first position (as shown in fig. 8) to the second position (as shown in fig. 11), the boss 164 also moves horizontally away from the lower position of the pivot portion 182. The pivot part 182 moves downwards due to the separation from the boss 186, so that the keycap 12 moves towards the bottom plate 10 for being accommodated; when the pivot portion 182 disengages from the protrusion 186 and moves downward, the pivot portion 182 also disengages from the limiting structure 106. At this time, the key structure 1 is in the storage state. In addition, the interlocking bracket 18 (or the plastic part 18a) has a relief groove 190 formed on the bottom surface 18c thereof. When the movable member 16 is located at the second position, the protrusion 164 enters the relief groove 190 to reduce the height of the overlapped pivot portion 182 and the protrusion 164, i.e. reduce the overall height of the key structure 1 (in the accommodated state). In addition, the switch circuit board 22 moves along with the movable element 16, so that when the movable element 16 is located at the second position, the switch 222 is far away from the downward projection area of the linking bracket 18 along the vertical direction D1, and therefore, when the key structure 1 is in the storage state, the trigger portion 188 does not press the switch 222, which can avoid continuously applying force to the switch 222 for a long time, and can effectively prolong the service life of the switch 222. In addition, when the boss 164 moves away from the lower side of the pivot portion 182, the weight of the lifting mechanism 14, the key cap 12 and the linking frame 18 is helpful for folding the key structure 1. In addition, the magnetic attraction force F also helps to rotate the linking bracket 18 toward the bottom plate 10 in the process of moving the movable element 16 from the first position to the second position, which helps to fold the linking bracket 18 toward the bottom plate 10 as a whole.

In the present embodiment, the protrusion 164 has a top surface 164a and a guiding inclined surface 164b, and the guiding inclined surface 164b is adjacent to the top surface 164 a. The pivot portion 182 has a circular arc surface 182 a. When the key structure 1 is in a state of being pressed by a user, the pivot portion 182 is supported on the top surface 164 a. When the key structure 1 in the storage state (as shown in fig. 11) is to be switched to the state that can be pressed by the user, the movable member 16 can be operated to move in a reverse direction (or slide leftward; i.e., move substantially horizontally from the second position to the first position), so that the guiding inclined surface 164b guides the arc surface 182a to slide back upward from the surface 162a of the movable plate 162 to the top surface 164a, thereby making the key structure 1 in the state that can be pressed by the user (as shown in fig. 8). In practice, since the guiding inclined surface 164b already has the effect of guiding the pivoting portion 182 to slide on the boss 164, the pivoting portion 182 may also be implemented with a V-shaped cross section, so that the pivoting portion 182 abuts against the boss 164 with a structural edge.

In addition, in the present embodiment, when the movable element 16 is located at the first position and the key cap 12 is not pressed (as shown in fig. 8), the magnetic attraction portion 184 is in line contact with the magnetic attraction element 20, which facilitates the movement of the movable element 16. In practical operation, the magnetic part 184 and the magnetic part 20 may be separated from each other (i.e. when the key structure 1 is in a state of being pressed by a user, the magnetic part 184 does not contact the magnetic part 20), as shown in fig. 12; in this embodiment, the base plate 10 includes a stopping structure 110, and the stopping structure 110 is used to stop the magnetic attraction part 184 from contacting the magnetic attraction member 20. This structural arrangement further facilitates movement of the moveable member 16.

Please refer to fig. 1 to 5, 8 and 13. In this embodiment, the key structure 1 further includes other interaction structures to facilitate the key structure 1 to be in the storage state. The first bracket 142 includes two sliding slots 1426, the two sliding slots 1426 extend along an extending direction 142a (an arrow is shown in fig. 2 to 5), and the extending direction 142a is directed from the first lower end 1424 to the first upper end 1422. The movable plate 18 includes two sliding hooks 166, and the two sliding hooks 166 correspond to the two sliding slots 1426. In the process that the movable element 16 moves from the first position (as shown in fig. 2 or fig. 8) to the second position (as shown in fig. 13), the sliding hooks 166 slide in the corresponding sliding slots 1426 and apply a force to the sliding slots 1426 to rotate the first support 142 toward the bottom plate 10, so as to reduce the height of the first upper end 1422. In addition, in the process, the protrusion 164 moves away from the lower side of the pivot portion 182 to facilitate the rotation of the first bracket 142 toward the bottom plate 10, so as to reduce the resistance of the sliding hook 166 sliding in the sliding slot 1426. Therefore, the moving away of the protruding table 164 and the sliding of the sliding hook 166 in the sliding groove 1426 both help to keep the key structure 1 in the storage state.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the sliding groove 1426 includes an opening 1426a and a slot 1426 b. During the sliding of the movable member 16 from the first position to the second position, the sliding hook 166 slides into the slot 1426b from the opening 1426 a. The channel 1426b has a channel bottom 1426c, and the channel bottom 1426c extends in a direction deviating from the extending direction 142a toward the base plate 10. During the sliding of the movable member 16 from the first position to the second position, the sliding hook 166 slides on the slot bottom 1426c toward the first lower end 1424. In addition, the projections of the sliding groove 1426 and the driving portion 186 in the vertical direction D1 are located on the same side of the rotation axis 14a, which can be seen from fig. 2 and will not be described herein. In addition, in the embodiment, the number of the sliding grooves 1426 (and the corresponding sliding hooks 166) is two, but in actual operation, only one sliding groove may be provided, which still can exert the effect of the above-mentioned folding bracket, and will not be described herein.

Referring to fig. 14 to 19, the cross-sectional positions of fig. 17 and 18 correspond to the line X-X in fig. 1. The key structure 3 according to another embodiment is similar to the key structure 1, so the key structure 3 follows the reference numerals of the key structure 1. For other descriptions of the key structure 3, please refer to the key structure 1 and related descriptions of its variations, which are not repeated herein. The difference from the key structure 1 is that (the driving portion 186 of) the linking bracket 18 of the key structure 3 directly abuts against the bottom surface 120a of the cap 120. In the key structure 3, the projections of the sliding grooves 1426 and the driving portion 186 in the vertical direction D1 are located on opposite sides of the rotation axis 14a, and the groove bottom surfaces 1426c extend in a direction away from the extending direction 142a toward the key cap 12. During substantially horizontal movement of the moveable member 16 from the first position (shown in FIG. 14) to the second position (shown in FIG. 19), the hook 166 slides on the slot bottom surface 1426c toward the first upper end 1422. In addition, in the present embodiment, the boss 364 of the movable member 36 has an L-shaped structure. During the process of the movable element 16 moving from the second position (as shown in fig. 18) to the first position (as shown in fig. 17), the pivot portion 182 can still be smoothly guided by the circular arc surface 182a of the pivot portion 182 to slide back to the top surface 364a from the surface 162a of the movable plate 162, so that the key structure 3 is in a state (as shown in fig. 17) that can be pressed by the user.

In addition, in the key structure 1, 3, the first support 142 is an outer ring, the second support 144 is an inner ring, the inner ring is pivoted to the inner side of the outer ring, the linking support 18 is located at the inner side of the inner ring, and the sliding groove 1426 is disposed on the first support 142; however, the method is not limited to this. For example, in the key structure 3, the second support 144 is changed to be n-shaped, the linking support 18 can extend outward to abut against the first support 142, and the linking support 18 will not interfere with the second support 144 in the process of pressing the keycap 12. For another example, in the key structure 1, the sliding groove 1426 and the corresponding sliding hook 166 of the first bracket 142 are removed, and the sliding groove 1426 and the corresponding sliding hook 166 of the key structure 3 are implemented on the second bracket 144; at this time, the projections of the sliding groove 1426 and the driving portion 186 in the vertical direction D1 are located on two opposite sides of the rotation axis 14a, and the inner side of the first bracket 142 may need to be modified to avoid structural interference, which is not described herein. Similarly, in the key structure 3, the sliding groove 1426 and the corresponding sliding hook 166 of the first bracket 142 are removed, and the sliding groove 1426 and the corresponding sliding hook 166 of the key structure 1 are implemented on the second bracket 144. For another example, the lifting mechanism 14 may be implemented by a butterfly-type support (which includes two mutually linked supports arranged in a V-shape) instead of a scissors-foot support, and the linking support 18 may abut against one of the supports or directly abut against the keycap 12.

In addition, in the key structures 1 and 3, the movable members 16 and 36 are both slidably disposed below the bottom plate 10, but the present invention is not limited thereto in actual operation. For example, the movable members 16 and 36 are disposed above the bottom plate 10 instead, and form an opening structure corresponding to the magnetic attraction member 20 and the bottom plate 10 (e.g., the bottom plate connecting portions 102 and 104, the limiting structure 106, the restraining structure 108, and the stopping structure 110) to avoid structural interference.

In the key structures 1 and 3, the key cap 12 can be sunk for easy storage even if not subjected to external pressing force. Furthermore, the restoring force (i.e. magnetic attraction) of the key cap 12 is not generated by the elastic structure, so as to avoid the problem that the elastic property is affected by the permanent deformation of the solid elastic member in the prior art.

The above detailed description of the preferred embodiments is intended to more clearly illustrate the features and spirit of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the scope of the claims appended hereto. The scope of the claims of the present invention should therefore be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements as is appropriate to the context of the description set forth above.

Claims (16)

1. A key structure, comprising:

a base plate;

the keycap is arranged on the bottom plate;

the lifting mechanism is connected between the base plate and the keycap, and the keycap can move along the vertical direction relative to the base plate through the lifting mechanism;

the movable piece is movably arranged along the horizontal direction relative to the bottom plate and comprises a movable plate body and a boss, and the boss protrudes upwards from the surface of the movable plate body;

the linkage support is provided with a pivot part, a magnetic part and a driving part, the magnetic part and the driving part are positioned at two sides of the pivot part, the linkage support is rotatably arranged on the boss through the pivot part, and the driving part is abutted against one of the lifting mechanism and the keycap; and

the magnetic part is arranged on the bottom plate, and a magnetic attraction force is generated between the magnetic part and the magnetic part;

when the movable piece is located at the first position, the magnetic attraction piece is located below the magnetic attraction part, and the magnetic attraction force drives the keycap to be far away from the bottom plate through the linkage support; and

when the movable piece moves horizontally from the first position to the second position, the boss is far away from the lower position of the pivot part, and the pivot part is separated from the boss and moves downwards, so that the keycap moves towards the bottom plate.

2. The key structure according to claim 1, wherein: the boss is provided with a top surface and a guiding inclined surface, the pivot part is provided with an arc surface, and when the movable piece moves horizontally from the second position to the first position, the guiding inclined surface guides the arc surface to slide upwards from the surface of the movable plate to the top surface.

3. The key structure according to claim 1, wherein: the bottom plate comprises a limiting structure, when the moving piece is located at the first position, the pivot part is clamped into the limiting structure, and when the moving piece is located at the second position, the pivot part is separated from the limiting structure.

4. The key structure according to claim 1, wherein: when the movable piece is located at the first position and the keycap is not pressed, the magnetic part is in line contact with the magnetic part; or the magnetic part and the magnetic part are arranged separately.

5. The key structure according to claim 1, wherein: the bottom surface of the linkage support is provided with a yielding groove, and when the movable piece is positioned at the second position, the boss enters the yielding groove so as to reduce the height of the pivoting part after being overlapped with the boss.

6. The key structure according to claim 1, wherein: the key structure further comprises a switch, the switch is arranged on the moving part, when the moving part is located at the first position, the switch is located below the linkage support, and when the moving part is located at the second position, the switch is far away from a downward projection area of the linkage support along the vertical direction.

7. The key structure according to claim 6, wherein: the linkage support is provided with a triggering portion, and when the movable piece is located at the first position and the keycap is pressed, the triggering portion triggers the switch.

8. The key structure according to claim 1, wherein: the lifting mechanism comprises a first support and a second support which are mutually pivoted, the keycap can vertically move relative to the base plate through the first support and the second support, the first support is connected with the keycap through a first upper end part and is connected with the base plate through a first lower end part, the second support is connected with the keycap through a second upper end part and is connected with the base plate through a second lower end part.

9. The key structure according to claim 8, wherein: the first support comprises a sliding groove, the sliding groove extends along an extending direction, the extending direction is formed by the first lower end portion and points to the first upper end portion, the moving member comprises a sliding hook, and in the process that the moving member moves from the first position to the second position, the sliding hook slides in the sliding groove and applies force to the sliding groove to enable the first support to rotate towards the bottom plate, so that the height of the first upper end portion is reduced.

10. The key structure according to claim 9, wherein: the sliding groove is provided with a groove bottom surface, the groove bottom surface extends along the direction deviating from the extending direction of the bottom plate, and the sliding hook slides on the groove bottom surface towards the first lower end part in the process that the moving piece moves from the first position to the second position.

11. The key structure according to claim 9, wherein: the first bracket and the second bracket are pivoted relative to the rotating axial direction,

the driving part abuts against the second upper end part adjacent to the second support, and the projection of the sliding groove and the driving part in the vertical direction is positioned on the same side of the rotating shaft; or the driving part is abutted against the keycap, and the projections of the sliding chute and the driving part in the vertical direction are positioned on two opposite sides of the rotating shaft.

12. The key structure according to claim 11, wherein: when the projection of the sliding groove and the driving part in the vertical direction is located on two opposite sides of the rotating shaft, the sliding groove is provided with a groove bottom surface, the groove bottom surface extends along the direction deviating from the extending direction of the keycap, and the sliding hook slides on the groove bottom surface towards the first upper end part in the process that the moving part moves from the first position to the second position.

13. The key structure according to claim 8, wherein: the first support is an outer ring, the second support is an inner ring, the inner ring is pivoted on the inner side of the outer ring, and the linkage support is positioned on the inner side of the inner ring.

14. The key structure according to claim 1, wherein: the linkage support comprises a plastic piece and a paramagnetic plate piece combined to the plastic piece, the plastic piece forms the driving portion and the pivoting portion, and the paramagnetic plate piece forms the magnetic attraction portion.

15. The key structure according to claim 1, wherein: in the process that the movable piece moves from the first position to the second position, the magnetic attraction force is increased to enable the linkage support to rotate towards the bottom plate.

16. The key structure according to claim 1, wherein: the button structure further comprises a switch, wherein the switch is arranged on the moving part, and the moving part is arranged below the bottom plate.

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